Basically, it is known that camshafts control the gas exchange and therefore the combustion of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle. They are driven by the crankshaft. Its rotational movement is consequently in an accurately defined ratio to the rotational movement of the crankshaft and therefore to the position of the pistons in the cylinders. Furthermore, it is basically known that camshafts, particularly assembled camshafts, comprise a wide variety of components, such as a shaft tube and the cams, and further functional elements which are produced separately and then assembled together. As a result of this, a weight saving of up to 40 percent is possible compared with camshafts produced from only one material. A mass to be moved which is reduced in such way consequently leads to an optimized vibration behavior and to a low fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine.
In principle, a multiplicity of joining methods for producing assembled camshafts are known. These differ in the type of connection. So, there are for example the materially bonding fastening of the functional parts by soldering, welding or sintering, or also the direct frictionally engaging fastening, such as cams fastened by means of a cylindrical press fit. It is also conceivable that the cams are fastened on the carrier shaft in a frictionally engaging manner indirectly via conical intermediate elements or that these are fitted onto the carrier shaft directly in a positive locking manner by means of a splined shaft connection. Furthermore, cam elements which are fastened in a positively locking manner indirectly with the aid of a feather key are also known as well as a materially bonding connection of camshaft segments with cams. During the assembly of the camshaft, particularly the correct positioning of the cam elements on the shaft segment of the camshaft poses a challenge during the assembly process. Taking into consideration customer requirements with regard to small (positional) tolerances, it is necessary to realize an exact positioning of the individual cam elements on the shaft segment. Due to the tolerance deviations of the shaft segment itself as well of the individual cam elements with regard to their geometric dimensions, the assembly process, when arranging a cam element on the shaft element, involves the risk of not being able to meet the defined customer requirements. It is basically known that during the assembly process of the cam element on the shaft segment use is made of a tool which from a distal end or an end face of the shaft segment pushes the cam element along the longitudinal axis of the shaft segment onto said shaft segment. In the case of excessively large geometric dimensioning of the shaft segment with regard to its length in combination with correspondingly wide or narrow cams, it is conceivable that in particular the positional tolerances, predetermined by the client, between the individual cams arranged on the shaft segment cannot be met by means of the known assembly method.